


house on prescott street

by rutabega129



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Ghosts, Pitch Perfect Horror Week, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27172366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rutabega129/pseuds/rutabega129
Summary: Beca and Chloe acquire an item from an charity auction and get more than what they bargained for.Written for Pitch Perfect Horror Week Day 5: Cursed objects (I'm like an hour late oops)
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 20
Kudos: 37





	house on prescott street

**Author's Note:**

> I am not a fan of this but I decided to challenge myself in writing in a genre that I've never written before. This was very hard to write for me. This fic is very heavily based on an episode of Supernatural and an episode of (original) Charmed. So if you seen both shows and things sound familiar, that's why. 
> 
> As usual. Unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.

“I don’t want to go.” It was probably the tenth time Beca had said it in the past hour alone and probably the hundredth time since she found out she had to go to this obligatory work party. But she was already dressed with makeup and hair done so it was clearly too late to back out now. She sits on the bed, arms crossed against her chest, pouting, as she watches Chloe check her own makeup in their vanity mirror.

“Beca,” Chloe chastises light heartedly and looks at Beca through the reflection. “It’s for charity.”

Beca groans. “I know, so why can’t I just write a big check and be done with it? Why must we go to a boring cocktail dinner with a boring auction?” Beca’s aware she’s acting like a petulant child but she hated these types of events. It wasn’t even a party hosted by the record label she worked for but rather something her label got invited to. And since Beca’s boss made it very clear that the company paid for all their (very expensive) admission tickets, they were obligated to go. 

Beca knows it’ll be filled with old CEOs bragging about their accomplishments when it’s their employees who made them all the money. 

“We’ll cut out early,” Chloe says as she applies lip gloss. She grins at Beca when she turns around. “And maybe if you keep your complaining to a minimum tonight, I’ll fuck you in one of those fancy bathrooms.” She winks at Beca and Beca can’t help the shiver that runs down her back as Chloe advances to the bed.

“You’re the worst,” Beca mumbles but lets Chloe pull her up from their bed. Chloe runs her fingers down Beca’s back which was completely exposed due to the style of her dress and Beca shivers even more. “Chloe,” she warns. “If your hand travels more south, we’re going to be really late.”

“Gary isn’t even here yet,” Chloe points out about Beca’s driver. “I could get you off right now if I really wanted to.”

Beca’s entire face flushes as her phone dings right at the moment to signal that someone is at their gate. She pulls the security camera app open and sees Gary waving at them. “Be right there, Gary,” Beca says when she presses the speaker button. She keys in the code so the gate opens and watches as he pulls up the car to the front. “Worst timing,” Beca says with another pout.

Chloe steals a kiss before heading downstairs. 

“Okay, my babies,” Chloe says to their cat and dog who both come directly to Chloe at the sound of her voice. Their large gray mutt sticks his tongue out and their orange cat rubs his face against Chloe’s leg with not so much as a glance towards Beca. She’s used to being ignored by their fur babies. 

“You two be good for the night, and Wyatt,” Chloe says sternly to the cat, “you be nice to Chris okay?” At the sound of his name, Chris’s tail wags vigorously. Wyatt just licks his paw and walks away to climb his cat tower. 

Chloe pats Chris’s head and gives him a treat before meeting Beca by the front door. “Don’t forget to set the alarm,” Chloe tells her as they exit their home.

“Yes, dear,” Beca retorts playfully. She keys in their code on the security pad and they hear the familiar beeping sound of the alarm before shutting and locking the door. 

As predicted, the entire event bores Beca to near tears. Her cheeks hurt from fake smiling at everyone and her head hurts from trying not to roll her eyes. Thank god for the open bar. Chloe of course, does better than her since she actually mingles with other guests and strikes genuine conversation with some. Beca envies her girlfriend’s social skills.

“How’s your night going, Beca?” Her boss Greg asks, walking up to her with two champagne flutes. He hands one of them to her and takes a sip of his.

This would be her fourth flute of the night. Beca is just a bit tipsy. “Great,” she answers, trying to sound genuine. “Seems like the open bar is opening a lot of people’s wallets.”

Greg laughs but Beca can tell it’s fake. She’s been fake laughing all night as well. “What are you planning to bid on at the auction?”

Beca almost swears out loud. She totally forgot she agreed to bid on something to make the label look “good” amongst the other donors.

“I haven’t decided yet,” she fibs. She actually hasn’t even checked the catalogue to see what’s on the block. For all she knows she might end up with an old suit and armor. 

“Good luck with your bid.” Greg raises his glass to her before going off to speak to more people. 

Beca downs the rest of her champagne.

“How much have you had?” Chloe’s amused voice comes up next to her. She places a quick kiss on Beca’s flushed cheek.

“Four?” Beca says with a smile and gives the flute to a server who walks up to her with an empty tray. “I feel very warm,” she sing songs and leans against her girlfriend.

Chloe laughs but it’s genuine and music to Beca’s ears. 

“Alright, drunky, let’s take a seat before the auction starts.” Chloe takes her hand as they check into the room where the auction is being held. Beca takes a numbered paddle from the registration desk and writes her name down on the corresponding form. 

“I hope this goes fast,” Beca says and they take a seat somewhere in the middle. “I’m about to fall asleep.” She uses the paddle to start fanning herself. “God, I hope I don’t end up with a suit and armor.”

Chloe looks at her with amused eyes. “We are not taking a suit and armor home, babe.”

The auction goes by very fast paced and Beca honestly thought the fast speaking thing was a joke. It was difficult to keep up during some items when some people had outright bidding wars. An old baseball bat from some dead baseball player went for $10,000. 

“Bec, there’s only a few items left and you haven’t bid on one. Your boss is glaring.” Chloe nudges her and Beca strains a smile towards Greg.

“Alright, next one, whatever it is, I’ll bid.”

“Next up,” the auctioneer says, “is an oil painting from the early 1900s. Artist is unknown but believed to have studied alongside Edward Hopper. This is entitled ‘House on Prescott Street.’”

Beca sits up and squints at the item on the display. She had no knowledge of the artworld and most of the framed works hanging in her and Chloe’s house were painted by a friend but the painting she was looking at was pretty decent. It’s exactly what the title said it was, a house on a street. It was clearly an old house probably from the same year the painting was created. It looked like a house a typical white American family would live in in the early 1900s. Victorian style, painted a light red almost pink color, two floors, and curtains in the various windows. Beca thinks it’d look nice in her office.

“We’ll start the bidding at $200, do I hear 200?”

Beca immediately raises her paddle.

“200,” he says pointing to Beca. “Do I hear $250? 250!” He says immediately at another person.

“The fuck,” Beca mutters and Chloe can’t help but laugh. “Who else wants a painting of a damn house from an unknown artist?”

“Shh, you’re gonna get outbid,” Chloe whispers.

Beca raises her paddle again when the bid goes higher. It goes back and forth several times between a few people before Beca finally wins the bid at $1,000.

“And sold for $1,000!” 

“That was not worth 1,000 dollars,” Beca complains and leans back against her chair. “It’s a house.”

“It’s for charity,” Chloe says to her for the nth time that night. “And now we can go home. Go pay for your painting.” She pokes Beca’s arm until she gets up. 

Beca goes back to the registration desk to fill out the paperwork for the painting as the rest of the auction finishes off.

“Alright, Ms. Mitchell,” the woman at the desk says as she hands her back her credit card. “Just sign here and we’ll have your painting packed up for you.”

“Thanks,” Beca says as she signs the paperwork and folds her invoice. A few moments later, one of the auction crew comes out carrying a thin rectangular wooden box with a handle. “Is that heavy?” Beca asks, eying it warily. Chloe definitely has to carry it back to the car. 

“The provenance is also in the box,” the registration woman says.

“Provenance?” 

“Its certificate of origin,” Chloe says coming up from behind her and reaching for the box. “Its previous owners and history,” Chloe explains further after seeing Beca’s confused place. 

“Right.” She thanks the woman and auction staff before exiting the auction hall. “Why would I care where it came from?” Beca mumbles as they walk away. She quickly says goodnight to her boss and some of her coworkers and goes outside to wait for Gary. 

  
Chloe laughs as she holds the box in front of her with two hands. It was a pretty large container and Beca may have underestimated the size of the painting when she was sitting in the crowd. She really hopes it doesn’t take up too much wallspace. She didn’t spend $1,000 on a painting for it to be sitting in storage. 

“Some people just want to make sure the things they buy are authentic and what they paid for. Imagine if that signed Joni Mitchell guitar you have hanging in your office was fake.”

“Then I definitely overpaid for it.”

Chloe snorts. “You’re the worst.”

Gary helps them load the painting into the trunk before they settle comfortably in the backseat. He puts up the privacy divider right away. . 

“You’re not too tired, are you?” Chloe asks as Beca leans against Chloe. Chloe wraps her arm around her and runs her finger down Beca’s arm. They had rolled down the window and a warm breeze filtered through the car. 

Beca hums and closes her eyes and turns her face into Chloe’s neck and presses a light kiss there. “I really want to, baby, but I think I’m about to drop dead.” 

Chloe kisses the top of her head. “No worries, we’ll go straight to bed when we get home.”

Chloe practically has to drag her into the house by the time they get there with how tired Beca was. Between the champagne, being on her feet for the majority of the night, and the fake everything she had to do, it was a miracle she made it to bed without Chloe carrying her. 

“I’m just going to get the painting from Gary’s trunk so he can go home okay?” Chloe tells her as Beca attempts to undress herself. 

She manages to get herself into some pajamas and washes the makeup off her face before crawling under covers. She hears the distinct sound of paw pads hitting their bedroom floor and then a few seconds later, she feels a lick on her face. 

“Goodnight, Chris,” she mumbles to their dog and reaches out to blindly pet his head. Beca lifts her head as she watches their large dog do a few circles before settling himself into his dog bed on their floor. 

Beca is about to drift off to sleep when she hears a loud bang coming from the downstairs that makes her shoot up immediately. “Chloe!” She calls out before scrambling out of bed to run out. Chris follows closely behind her. 

“I’m fine, Bec!” Chloe calls back when Beca is half way downstairs. 

Beca’s heart rate doesn’t return to normal until she physically sees Chloe who was currently in Beca’s office. The wooden box that held the painting had a huge spilt and was laying in two uneven pieces on the floor. 

“Are you okay?” Beca rushes over to Chloe and checks her over. As far as she can tell, there weren’t any visible cuts or bruises.

“I’m fine but that box wasn’t the most sturdy. It completely broke when I tried to move it here.” Chloe takes out the painting that was still somewhat nestled in the broken box. It was wrapped in some packing material so the splinters didn’t scratch it. “Oh good, the painting has no scratches,” Chloe says as she leans it against the couch in the room.

“Don’t do that,” Beca says, holding her hand to her chest. She wraps her arms around Chloe to give her a tight hug, burying her face into Chloe’s neck. Chloe squeezes just as hard. “You scared the dog,” she mumbles against Chloe’s neck.

“Right, the dog,” Chloe laughs and looks down at Chris who was sitting vigilantly next to them in his alert stance. “Whatcha looking at, Chris?” 

Beca pulls back and looks at their dog who was staring off into space and quietly whimpering. Beca furrows her eyebrows. “What’s up, Chris?” She goes to pat his head but he doesn’t seem like he registers her touch. Beca tries to figure out what he’s looking at and sees it was the painting on the couch. “Not an art fan?”

Chris lets out a loud bark that makes both Beca and Chloe jump before running out the room and back upstairs. “Weird,” Chloe says as she watches him run up the stairs.

“He’s your dog,” Beca points out and starts picking up the broken wood. She sees a large manila envelope inside and takes it out. “This must be the providence.”

“Provenance,” Chloe corrects with a smile. “Let me clean this up and we can finally go to bed.” She reaches down to pick up one of the broken pieces when Beca stops her.

“I got it, go get ready for bed, I’ll be up soon.”

“You’re tired babe, let me do it.”

“I got a shot of adrenaline when I thought you hurt yourself, I got it,” she insists and playfully shoves Chloe out of her office. Chloe kisses her before heading upstairs. 

Beca puts the envelope on her desk and takes the pieces of wood out to the garage. When she’s confident she got all the pieces and no random splinters were left behind for her to step on, she goes to turn off the light and close the door when she catches movement in the corner of her eye.

“Wyatt?” She calls into the room, looking for the familiar fluffy orange tail. “Dude, if you get yourself trapped in here again and scratch up my door, I’m going to kill you. You only have 5 out 9 lives left.” Beca waits to see if Wyatt will run out of the room but as usual, their cat doesn’t listen to her. “Okay, I’ll keep the door open for your stubborn ass.” 

Beca turns off the light and leaves the door open wide enough for Wyatt to fit and heads to the bedroom. The adrenaline was wearing off and Beca feels her eyes start to get heavy again and she was suddenly very cold.

Chloe was brushing her hair when Beca walks in the room. “You look like a zombie, Bec.”

  
Beca grunts and crawls under the covers but screams when her pillow hisses at her. “Wyatt?!” She exclaims at their cat who looks pissed at being used as a pillow. Beca’s eyes widen as Wyatt jumps from their bed and into his (other) cat tower. 

Chloe laughs at the exchange but Beca’s heart is racing. “Has he been here the entire time?” 

“Yeah, he was in here when I walked in.” Chloe furrows her eyebrows. “Why?”

Beca shakes her head. “Nothing, I just thought he was in my office.” Wasn’t he? She did see something move or was it the light? 

“You okay, baby?” Chloe gets into bed with her and runs her hand through Beca’s hair. 

Beca tries to smile. “I’m fine, just really tired.”

“Okay let’s go to sleep then.” She leans over to kiss Beca before getting up and turning off their main light. “Did you set the alarm?” Chloe asks before getting back into bed.

“Yeah,” Beca says but feels very uneasy. “Let me just check it again.” She pulls up her phone and sees that her app says the alarm is enabled. She breathes a sigh of relief. 

Chloe gets in her usual position of snuggling up to Beca’s side and putting her face into her neck. Her arm comes up across Beca’s stomach and she pulls her close. “Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight.” 

Beca lies awake for a while and hears Chloe’s breathing even out as she falls asleep. She looks over at Chris who is snoring lightly in his bed. “You’d bark if someone was in here right?” She whispers to him. He grunts in his sleep. 

Beca shakes her head at her own paranoia and finally closes her eyes and falls asleep. 

\---

Beca and Chloe wake up a few hours later because Chris jumps on their bed to curl up between them.

“Chris? What’s up, buddy?” Chloe’s groggy voice comes through. “Shit, Bec, it’s freezing in here.”

Beca rubs her eyes and sits up so the blanket falls off her top half and a blast of cold air hits her bare arms. It was absolutely freezing in the room and it made sense that Chris jumped into their bed for warmth. She feels a breeze in their room and looks at the window. The curtains were blowing. 

“Did you open the window?” Beca asks as she gets out of bed. She shivers and quickly grabs a hoodie from the closet and puts it on. She walks up to the window and closes it. 

“No,” Chloe says, also getting out of bed to grab a hoodie. “Are you sure you didn’t forget to close it? I know you usually have it open during the day.”

Beca scratches the back of her neck trying to remember if she closed the window before going to bed. She would’ve closed it before they left for the party and she doesn’t remember opening it when they got home.

“No, this was closed otherwise the alarm wouldn’t arm if it was.” 

“Are you sure you set the alarm?” Chloe asks again.

“Yes!” Beca says exasperated. She gets her phone again and gives it to Chloe. “Here, check yourself.” 

Chloe looks as tired as Beca feels as she scrolls on Beca’s phone. “Bec, it says disabled.” 

“What?!” Beca grabs the phone back and looks at the app but Chloe was right. The alarm was in fact, not set. “I swear it said it was armed before we went to sleep.” Beca felt like she was losing her mind.

Chloe bites her lip. “Bec, you’re really tired and you had a lot to drink at the party. Maybe you thought you did but didn’t?”

Beca rubs at her face. She was insanely tired and her brain felt like it was about to leak from her ears but she was sure she set the alarm. Didn’t she? 

“Maybe,” Beca says quietly. She felt weird. “Let’s just go back to bed.”

“Let me set the alarm,” Chloe says and takes the phone back to enable it. “There.” She shows Beca the screen. “All set.”

Beca doesn’t say anything but crawls back under the covers. She goes back to sleep and has strange dreams about open windows and fire.

\---

“Does this look straight?” Beca holds the frame above her against the wall and tilts her head. 

Stacie snorts from her place on the couch. “Nothing about you is straight.”

Beca rolls her eyes and puts down the painting. “Dude, I was talking about the painting. And thanks for helping by the way.”

“Hey, I didn’t agree to this when you asked me over for lunch.” Stacie stands up and takes the painting from her and raises it over the spot on the wall Beca was trying to hang it on. “There,” she says. “Put the hook right here.”

Beca manages to hang the painting relatively straight and steps back to see how it looked. “Doesn’t really go with the other things in here but I have nowhere else to put it.”

Stacie tilts her head and examines the painting. “It’s kind of creepy.”

“What? It’s a house.”

“Yeah, a creepy house,” Stacie points out “Like the Amityville house.”

Beca hits her. “Shut up, it doesn’t look anything like that.” It didn’t but she knows Stacie was being an ass. 

Stacie laughs. “Why’d you buy this thing anyways?”

“It was for a charity event we went to a few nights ago,” Beca says. She reaches up to lift the bottom left corner of the frame when something catches her eye. “Huh.”

Stacie raises her eyebrow. “Huh what?”

Beca squints at the painting and runs her fingers over one of the windows of the house. “I didn’t realize this window was the only one open.”

“What are you talking about?” Stacie comes closer and squints also. 

Beca points at the spot near the first floor of the house. “See how every other window you can see the pane? This one is only half a pane and the curtains are painted like they’re blowing in the wind.” Beca gets a weird sense of deja vu.

Stacie squints harder at what Beca was pointing to but gives up after a few seconds. “Sure, if you say so. I’m starving, can we eat now?” She doesn’t wait for Beca’s answer and is already leaving the room. 

Beca follows her but feels uneasy as she leaves her office, like someone is watching her. 

\---

Beca technically has the day off but it doesn’t stop her from answering about a hundred work emails and conferencing with other producers over certain projects. She spends most of her day in her office while Chloe’s at work. Stacie only stopped by for lunch before heading back to her own job so it was just her and Chris and Wyatt who’ve been chasing each other around the house. 

“I think we should just scrap track 7 all together,” Theo says over a video conference. “It doesn’t flow well with the rest of the album.”

Beca writes some notes down on a different screen. “It’s Mattie’s favorite track, so no we’re not cutting it.” She sees Theo open his mouth but she cuts him off. “And no, it’s not going to be a bonus track. It stays.”

“Fine,” he relents. “I think that’s it for now since you’re technically not supposed to be working.” He glares at her and Beca rolls her eyes. It probably looked hilarious with the video lag. She writes a few more things down on her notes and is ready to end the call when Theo speaks up again. “Is that Chloe?”

Beca looks up on the screen. “What?”

Theo points somewhere over her shoulder. “I thought I saw someone behind you.”

Beca immediately turns around and sees no one. “That’s not funny, Theo,” she says glaring. “Chloe isn’t even home yet.”

Theo holds his hands up in defense. “I’m not trying to be funny, I thought I saw something there. It was probably just a shadow from your window.”  
  


Beca looks around again and sees nothing. The curtains and windows were open to let the sun and fresh air in and it could’ve easily been a shadow from their trees outside. “I’m hanging up now, see you at work.” She doesn’t wait for his bye and hits the end button. Beca stands up from her desk and looks around her office. She couldn’t explain it but she felt like someone or something else was in the room with her.

The hairs on the back of her neck were standing and the breeze blowing in the room was not warm but almost icy. Beca goes to the window and hears her neighbors next door. They must’ve been having a party of some sort because she hears children laughing and the distinct smell of fire burning. She goes to close the window but the room remains cold and Beca feels the air shift behind her as if something passed her.

She quickly turns around to see nothing. “Okay, what the fuck?” Beca says to herself. She goes to leave the room when something catches her eye again but she knows it’s not the cat. It was coming from the painting. 

Beca squints at it again and sees something almost reflecting from it. But it wasn’t reflecting, it was glowing? She walks up to the painting and her heart stops. The open window is now _closed_ and Beca sees actual flames coming from behind it. And was that a person? No, a girl, running through the flames?

“What?” Her voice sounds like an echo in her empty office. Beca has no idea what she’s looking at but her heart races and a cold sweat comes over her entire body. She backs away from the painting and blinks a few times, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her. She must be seeing things, Beca tries to tell herself. She jumps when her phone on her desk vibrates and she rushes over to get it.

“Chloe?” She answers immediately without looking. Her heart was about to come out of her chest.

“Hey, Bec, I’m going to be late tonight. I got called in for an emergency surgery. A poor stray dog got hit by a car.”

Beca doesn’t really register what she was saying as she looks back up at the painting. The window was open again and there were no flames. “Can I come over there?” 

There was a pause. “What? Beca, are you okay? You sound weird.”

Beca debates on telling Chloe what just happened but she wasn’t so sure herself. All she knew is that she didn’t want to be in the house without Chloe until nightfall. “I’m fine, I’m just a bit bored. Can me and the boys hang there while you work?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, um, I just miss you. So do the boys. You know they hate it when you work long shifts at the clinic.” She fibs and hopes that Chloe doesn’t look too much into it. Beca did miss Chloe though. She always did when they weren’t together.

“Yeah, babe, of course. I’m going to be awhile but you can leave Wyatt in the cat room and take Chris to the dog park.”

Beca feels relief wash over her. “Okay, we’ll be there soon. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Beca quickly packs her purse and calls Wyatt and Chris. Chris comes immediately with his tail wagging but of course Wyatt is nowhere to be found. 

“You wanna visit mommy?” Chris lets out a bark and quickly goes to the garage door and paws at his leash and harness that was hanging by the door. Beca really loved how well trained their dog was. Their cat on the other hand.

“Wyatt!” She calls again and grabs his carrier. “Come on, we’re gonna see mommy, I know your stubborn ass wants to see her.” She also wanted to get out of the house as quickly as possible and away fron the painting. She leashes up Chris and takes him to the car to go sit in the back and then goes to find Wyatt. 

“I swear to god, Wyatt, if your ass doesn’t come out here right now.” 

She looks for him again and finds him standing at the open door of her office hissing into the air. 

Beca stops.

“Wyatt?” Wyatt continues to hiss at something in the room and Beca feels her heart race again. “Wyatt, come on, let’s go.” 

Her voice was desperate and frankly scared. Their cat doesn’t listen and Beca can see that his eyes were dilated. She takes a deep breath and goes forward to swoop Wyatt up from the floor. She doesn’t look in the office but quickly runs to the garage. Wyatt growls quietly in her arms. 

“It’s okay,” she says mostly to herself. She secures him in the carrier and then goes out to the car.

As she drives away, Beca swears she heard a child’s laughter coming from her office.

\---

“Are you going to tell me the real reason why you wanted to come here?” Chloe asks Beca after she finished with her surgery. 

Beca has been playing with Chris at the dog park that was a block from the clinic while Chloe was working and now is in her office waiting for her to wrap for the day. 

“I just wanted to see you,” Beca says. It was the truth.

Chloe reties her hair into a ponytail and gives Beca a look. “Bec, come on, I know something’s wrong.”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“I already think you’re crazy,” Chloe jokes and pulls Beca to her, holding her by the waist. Beca smiles weakly and looks down as Chloe rubs her thumbs gently on her hip bones. “Babe?” She tilts her head so she can look in Beca’s eyes. 

“I think,” Beca takes a deep breath and meets Chloe’s eyes. “I think there’s something _wrong_ with that painting.” It sounds so dumb when she says it out loud.

Chloe looks at her confused. “What do you mean?”

“Ever since we took it home, weird things have been happening and I _saw_ something.” 

_Someone._

Beca looks at Chloe trying to gauge her what she’s thinking. She knows Chloe would never judge her but what she was saying sounded absolutely insane.

Chloe takes her hand and leads her to the couch in her office. “Bec, start from the beginning.”

Beca takes a deep breath, unsure exactly what the beginning was. “There are things in that painting that keep changing.” She looks at Chloe waiting for a reaction but she just waits for her patiently. “I know the one window on the house was closed when I first saw it and then when I went to hang in my office today, the window was open.” 

“Okay,” Chloe says slowly. “Maybe it’s one of those lenticular paintings that change depending on where you’re looking at it from.”

Beca stops and thinks for a moment. She never even considered that but it kind of made sense. 

“I mean, maybe?” 

But on oil paintings from the early 1900s? And what about Wyatt and Chris acting weird while they were in the office? Or the coldness? Or the sound of a child’s laughter? Beca knows those incidents couldn’t be explained by a possible lenticular painting.

“Babe, you’ve been really overworking yourself lately and I _know_ you were working today even though you have a day off.” Chloe reaches over to tuck a strand of hair behind Beca’s ear.

“It’s not exhaustion, Chloe.” She hears Chloe sigh. “I know what I saw and I know what I felt. There is something wrong with that painting.”

“Okay,” Chloe appeases. “Let’s go home and we’ll get rid of it, okay?”

Beca looks away, frustrated and starts pacing the room. She knows Chloe doesn’t believe her and now she feels like she is losing her mind. “You don’t believe me.”

Chloe gets up and grabs her shoulders to stop her from circling the entire area. She runs her hands down Beca’s arms soothingly until Chloe reaches her hands and holds them. “I’m not saying that I don’t believe you, Beca, I’m just saying there could be another explanation to all this.”

Beca sighs. “Or I’m going crazy.”

“You’re not going crazy. Come on, we’ll take it down tonight and find somewhere we can donate it.” 

Beca relents and they start heading back home. Chris rides with Beca while Wyatt rides with Chloe. “You believe me right, Chris?” Beca says to him as they drive home. Chris leans over from the back and licks Beca’s face. “This is why you’re my favorite.”

When they both park their cars in the garage, Beca actually stays in the car for a few moments. “It’s just a painting,” she tells herself as she watches Chloe carry the cat carrier inside first. Chris whimpers impatiently in the back. “You’ll protect me, right?”

Chris just whines and Beca finally gets out the car to let him out. Chloe was in her “just got home routine” of putting her work bag away and putting the tea kettle on the stove for her nightly cup of tea. 

“Bec, what do you want for dinner?” 

Beca doesn’t really hear her as she looks at the still open door of her office and shivers. She couldn’t believe she was afraid to go in there. 

“Bec?” Chloe suddenly appears in front of her and Beca jumps.

“Huh?”

“Dinner? What do you want?” Chloe looks at her concerned.

“Let’s just order pizza.”

Chloe smiles and takes out her phone to order. “I’m going to change real quick, okay?” 

Beca just nods and leans over to quickly kiss her before Chloe goes upstairs. She takes a deep breath and walks into her office and turns on the light. Everything looked the same from when she left earlier that afternoon but smelled different.

Like something was burning.

A quick scan of the room tells Beca there was nothing on fire nor was there any smoke anywhere. 

“Bec?” She hears Chloe call.

“In my office!” Beca continues to sniff around to see if she can find the origin of the smell.

“What are you doing?” Chloe’s amused voice comes from behind her. 

“Do you smell that?” 

“Smell what?” Chloe steps in the room and sniffs. “What is that?” Beca actually feels relieved that Chloe actually smelled something and it wasn’t just her. “Is something burning?”

“Right?!” Beca exclaims. 

“Are the neighbors having a bonfire?” Chloe walks over to the window to look. “I can’t see anything over their fence.” She shrugs and goes to the wall where the painting was hanging. “Okay, let’s just put this in the garage until we find somewhere to donate it. Do you still have the provenance?” 

Beca looks at her desk where the unopened envelope still lay. 

“Yeah, right here.” She reaches for it and opens the seal and looks through the papers. There were a bunch of pages that listed the previous owners of the painting and a little history behind the house itself. “It’s apparently a painting of a real house on a street called Prescott not too far from here actually.” 

Beca sits at her desk and continues to read and a strange feeling of dread comes over her. She barely hears Chloe taking the painting into the garage. The painting was done around 1906 by an unknown artist but was believed to be commissioned by the family, The Franklins, that lived in the house. Besides her and Chloe, there were three other previous owners of the painting spanning over several decades. 

She flips through more pages and finds an actual photograph of the family in front of the house. There was a mom, a dad, and three kids in the pictures. Two boys and one girl. In Beca’s opinion, none of them looked happy and she briefly wondered when people started smiling for photographs. Beca continues to flip through the pages to see if there was any more history behind the family or the house but it was mostly technical art things like what type of paint was used on what type of canvas. 

Beca reaches over to her computer mouse and wakes her computer to open up a web browser and quickly types a basic search of the family name, street name, and the year to see if anything pops up.

“Oh my god,” Beca says out loud when a few old news articles turn up up on her search. 

FAMILY OF FIVE DIE IN A HOUSE FIRE ON PRESCOTT STREET

Beca reads the article quickly and finds out that the Franklins all died one night when their house caught fire, killing everyone inside. The investigation concluded that the father, Malcolm Franklin, started the fire to kill his family and then himself Eyewitness statements said some people saw the daughter trying to escape through the open window but couldn’t quite make it before the fire killed her. There were rumors that the mother, Jane Franklin, was having an affair with another man and was going to take the kids and leave Malcolm for her lover.

Beca clicks out of the article and feels her stomach drop. A fire. An open window. Things were starting to make sense but no sense at all. Was the painting haunted by these tortured souls? 

“Bec! Pizza’s here,” Chloe calls from the other room. 

Beca stuffs the paperwork inside the envelope and goes to join Chloe for dinner but her mind was elsewhere. She needed to find out if what she was seeing was real or just her mind playing tricks on her.

When she goes to bed that night, Beca dreams about fire again and a faint echo of a child’s laughter.

\---

Beca looks at her phone to make sure she was at the right place before opening the door to a small art studio. There were paintings and works of art everywhere in the small space and the few patrons in there seemed very interested in everything on display. Beca didn’t know one thing about art but she’s assuming the the local artist who owned the studio was fairly successful

At least according to the internet and their rave reviews.

“Excuse me,” Beca says walking up to someone who she thinks works there. The young woman turns around and sees she's wearing a shirt with the studio’s name and logo. “Is Prudence Trudeau here today?”

“Yeah, she’s always here but probably up in her office, do you have an appointment with her for a commission?” The woman takes out her phone and swipes through the calendar app. “I don’t have anyone on the books today and Prudence doesn’t do commissions without a scheduled meeting first.”

“No, I’m not here for a commission, I just wanted to talk to her for a few moments if she’s not busy.” Beca gives her a smile she hopes seems eager and genuine and not creepy and desperate.

The woman raises her eyebrow in suspicion. “I’ll see if she’s free. I’m Claire,” she holds her hand out to Beca. “Prudence’s assistant. May I tell her who you are?”

“Beca Mitchell,” she replies and shakes Claire’s hand. “I just need to talk to her about a painting she had previously owned.” 

A look falls on Claire's face that Beca can’t quite place but it disappears almost right away. “I’ll be right back.”

Beca watches as Claire ascends a staircase that leads to what she’s assuming is Prudence’s office and waits. She looks at the paintings on the walls and tilts her head at some of them trying to make out what they may be.

Beca realizes she will never understand art.

“You can come up, Ms. Mitchell,” Claire says from the top of the stairs.

Beca walks up the stairs and into Prudence’s office. It was more of a loft than office and Beca could only guess that Prudence probably spent nights there as well.

At first glance, Beca could already tell that Prudence was the type of person who worked more than she slept. She definitely had the artist look. Beca extends her hand. “Hi, Ms. Trudeau, I’m Beca Mitchell.”

“Prudence,” she says and shakes Beca’s hand. “Is this about the House on Prescott Street?”

Beca widens her eyes, surprised that she wanted to jump right into business. “Um, yes it is, I believe you were the last owner?”

Prudence stares at her with a neutral expression and it unnerves Beca. “I donated that painting last month.”

“Yes,” Beca affirms. “And I just won it at a charity auction event about a couple of weeks ago.” She could already tell Prudence would rather her not be here asking these questions but Beca needed more information.

“It’s legitimate,” Prudence says defensively. “I provided the provenance so if there’s a problem, take it up with the auction.” 

“I’m not questioning its authenticity,” Beca says, raising her voice slightly. It was clear that Prudence was trying to get her out of there as quickly as possible and has an inkling as to why. “And by the way that you’re reacting, I think you know what I’m here about.” 

Prudence looks away and then goes walks to her desk to take a seat. 

“Have you seen her?” 

It was so quiet that Beca almost didn't hear the terrified whisper. “Her?” 

Prudence looks up at her with frightened eyes. “The girl in the painting trying to escape the fire.”

Beca feels like she needs to sit down and finds the nearest chair. “What?”

“At first you think it’s the light but then that window you swore was closed is open and then the flames. And then her.” Prudence eyes glaze over as she stares off into space. “Then you think, how could a girl be in a painting?” 

Beca swallows and suddenly feels very cold. “Do you know who she is?”

Prudence eyes snap back into focus and stares at Beca. “It’s the daughter.”

“The daughter?” Beca tries to figure out what she was talking about and then something clicks in her brain. “The Franklins? The daughter?”

“You need to leave,” Prudence says suddenly. “I got rid of that painting and it was the best thing that’s ever happened to me and you are not bringing it back into my life.”

“I’m not trying to,” Beca pleads. “I just needed to know what was going on.”

Prudence takes a deep breath trying to calm herself. “I’ve tried to destroy that painting, Ms. Mitchell but it keeps coming back. It’s been in my family for years and everyone who’s owned it has either gone crazy or died. If I were you, I would get rid of it before it’s too late.” She all but pushes Beca to the door. “Now please leave and never come back.”

Beca leaves the studio as fast as she could and walks quickly to her car. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking and she had no idea what to do. She had a haunted painting in her house that was slowly driving her insane and she had no idea how to get rid of it. Her fingers had a hard time trying to get the key into the ignition of her car when her phone vibrates in her pocket, startling her even more.

“Hello?”

“Beca? Where are you?” Chloe’s worried voice comes through. “I thought we were meeting for lunch?”

Beca quickly checks the time. “Fuck, Chlo, I’m sorry, I had an off site meeting and lost track of time.”

“Are you okay?” 

She hates and loves how Chloe knows her mood just by the sound of her voice. “I’m fine, um, I’ll just see you at home okay? I’m sorry about lunch, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Okay, call me when you have a break okay? Don’t work too hard.”

Beca bites her lip. “I’ll try. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” 

Once her phone call with Chloe is disconnected, she quickly calls another number.

“And what can I do for the fine Beca Mitchell today?”

Beca decides to cut to the chase. “Cynthia Rose, you’re into all that supernatural stuff right?

A pause. “What’s going on?” Cynthia Rose’s voice suddenly becomes serious and it throws Beca off a little. 

“Um, I think I’m going crazy but I think a painting that I own is haunted by the ghost of a murdered child?”

“Come over now.”

Beca tells Cynthia Rose everything that has happened since coming into possession of the painting and prays that she could help in any way. She could easily donate the painting the way Prudence did but it didn’t sit well with her knowing another person would have to go through the same ordeal.

“Well from what you’re saying, it seems like the girl’s soul is trapped inside the painting and she’s trying to get out.” Cynthia Rose explains.

“Okay?” She didn’t mean to sound dense but there are about a million things she’d rather do than set a ghost free. “How do we help her move on?”

Cynthia Rose gets up and goes to an old chest that was in the corner of the living room and opens it. She takes out what looks like an old journal and starts flipping through the pages. 

“Wait, does it suddenly get cold randomly?”

“Yes, like weirdly cold.” Beca waits patiently as Cynthia Rose continues to flip through the journal and reads the pages.

“That means there’s an evil spirit and if I’m going to guess, I’m thinking daddy dearest is the one keeping the girl there.” She shuts the book. “We got to get rid of him so the girl can move on.”

Beca blinks. “But they’re dead. How do we get rid of dead people?”

“Salt and burn his bones.”

She says it so casually that Beca balks. “Salt and burn what now?”

“It’s the only way to get rid of evil spirits,” Cynthia Rose explains as she leaves the room and opens the door to her garage. “In your research, did it say if the bodies burned in the house?” 

Beca follows her trying to wrap her head around what she was telling her. “No, the firefighters managed to put out the fire pretty quickly, their bodies weren’t completely burned, they all died from smoke inhalation.” She starts to get nervous as she sees Cynthia Rose grab two shovels and puts them in the trunk of her car. “Why?”

“That’s good because if they burned that means we wouldn’t have any bones to destroy and we’d have to find something else that’s keeping the dad on this plane.” She loads a bag of rock salt into the car as well.

Beca has no idea what she’s saying but she’s getting more nervous. “What exactly are you planning to do with all this stuff?”

Cynthia Rose gives her a look. “Well, Lilly’s out of town so _we_ are going to salt and burn his bones like I said. Now, go find out where the Franklin family was buried.” 

“Are you fucking insane?!” Beca exclaims. “We are not going to dig up some dead dude’s grave and burn his bones. What if we get caught?”

“We won’t get caught.” She shuts the trunk. “Trust me girl, this isn’t my first rodeo, now come on, it’s getting dark.” 

Beca doesn’t know why she gets in the passenger seat but she trusts Cynthia Rose with her life. And it’ll help get rid of the haunted painting, she’s all for it.

After a few minutes of research, they arrive at the cemetery where the family was buried just as the sun is setting. They find the Franklin mausoleum and break into it with the bolt cutters that Cynthia Rose also managed to bring. 

“I’m officially freaked out,” Beca whispers into the dark and super terrifying crypt. She holds her flashlight in a shaking hand as she watches Cynthia Rose shine hers on the headstones and plaques. It reflects over some glass display cases that held old toys. One of a doll, a baseball mitt, and a toy sailboat. “What the hell is all that?”

“When kids died back in the day, some people would bury them next to their favorite toys,” Cynthia Rose explained. “Oh there you are, you douchebag.”

Beca sees the flashlight beam over a plaque that said Malcolm Franklin. “Okay, what do we do now?”

“Well, I’m glad we don’t have to dig anything but the shovel will still come in handy.”

“For what?”

Instead of answering, Cynthia Rose lifts the shovel and smashes it against the plaque and cracks it. 

“Cynthia Rose!” Beca exclaims.

“What? We gotta get the coffin out, come help me.” 

Beca reluctantly clears the pieces of the plaque and carefully reaches into the now open hole to grab the coffin. “Oh my god,” she coughs out, getting covered in dust and cobwebs and hopefully not bone dust. “I cannot believe I’m doing this.” She helps Cynthia Rose pull the coffin out which was not light at all and set it down on the ground.

Cynthia Rose dusts off her hands and tries to catch her breath. “Whew, you wanna do the honors?”

Beca looks at her incredulously. “Dude, no, you do it!”

She just shrugs and bends over to open the coffin. Beca almost gags when she sees the skeleton. 

“Just get it over with!”

Cynthia Rose sprinkles a generous amount of rock salt over the bones and then douses it with lighter fluid before she lights an entire matchbook of matches and throws it in the coffin. The entire mausoleum glows in the flames and Beca actually has to step out, suddenly feeling nauseous. 

She stumbles out of the crypt and throws up on the side. “Fuck me,” she says out loud and tries to catch her breath. 

“You okay?” Cynthia Rose pats her back.

“How many times have you done this?” Beca wipes at her eyes that were watering from both the fire and throwing up.

“Well, between Lilly and I, I’d say,” she stops and thinks. “A fuck ton of times.”

“You and Lilly?” Beca asks incredulously. She doesn’t know why that surprises her. “Nevermind, did it work?”

Cynthia Rose looks back at the now dying fire. “It should but let’s get back to your house to find out.”

And as if on cue, Beca’s phone vibrates in her pocket and sees Chloe calling her. “Hey Chloe, listen I-”

“Where the hell are you?” Chloe’s annoyed voice comes through. “Your phone has been going straight to voicemail for an hour and Theo said you weren’t even at work today.”

Beca winces. “Chloe, I swear I’ll explain everything later.”

“Also, you left the window open and _why_ did you put the painting back up?”

Beca freezes and looks at Cynthia Rose. “Chloe, get out of the house now.”

“Beca, what?” Beca suddenly hears Chris barking loudly in the background. “Chris! Hey, what are you barking-oh my god.”

“Chloe!” Beca screams through the phone. “Get out of the house now!” The call drops along with Beca’s stomach. “Chloe!” Beca tries to call her back but it goes straight to voicemail. 

“What’s happening?” Cynthia Rose asks with concern. 

“We gotta get back to my house, Chloe’s in trouble.” Beca sprints back to the car and Cynthia Rose speeds out of the cemetery. “Why didn’t it work?” She feels the tears prick in her eyes at the thought of anything happening to Chloe. 

“There must be something else keeping Malcolm tied here; we just gotta find what it is.” She turns a tight corner and Beca has to grab onto the dashboard. “Here,” Cynthia Rose reaches into the back seat and hands Beca a shotgun.

“Dude, what the fuck, we’re going to shoot a fucking ghost?”

“It’s filled with rock salt. It repels evil spirits.” 

Beca looks at the gun incredulously.

“Just shoot at anything that doesn’t look human.” 

They get back to her house in record time and relief washes over her when she sees Chloe in the driveway with Chris who was barking at the house, looking terrified. 

“Chloe!” She doesn’t even wait for the car to stop as she runs right into Chloe’s arms and squeezes her tight. “Are you okay?” She can see from the corner of her eye Cynthia Rose trying to get back into the house also holding a shotgun.

“No, I’m not okay!” Chloe exclaims with tears in her eyes. “I just saw a girl come out of the painting. Chris and I ran out of the house as fast as we could. I dropped my phone and didn’t even have time to get my car keys.”

“A girl?” Beca looks at Cynthia Rose and realization dawns in their eyes. “It was the girl the entire time?”

“We burned the wrong bones.”

Chloe looks between the two of them confused. “What is going on?”

“We gotta go back to the cemetery and burn the right bones.” Cynthia Rose heads back to her car.

“No, we can’t,” Chloe says frantically, grabbing onto Beca who is following Cynthia Rose.

Beca pulls Chloe towards the car. “Chloe, come on, we can’t stay here.”

Chloe pulls back and stands firm. “Beca, Wyatt is still in there and that girl or ghost or whatever was holding a burning candle and I really doubt she was using it to light her way around the house.”

Beca’s eyes narrow. “That psycho isn’t going to kill my cat.” She goes back to the car and grabs the shotgun she left in the passenger seat. 

“Bec, what are you going to do with that?” Chloe asks with wide eyes.

“Okay, while you two go save your pussy, I’m going to go back and burn the right bones,” Cynthia Rose says from the driver’s seat. “Remember Beca, just shoot anything that doesn’t look human. I’ll call you when I’m there.” She puts the car in reverse and drives off.

“When did we become friends with a Ghostbuster?” Choe asks.

Beca almost wants to laugh. “Let’s get our cat.”

“Bec, do you know how to shoot a gun?” 

Beca looks at the weapon in her hand. “Point and shoot?”

“Give it to me.” Chloe holds her hand out and Beca reluctantly hands it to her. 

“Do _you_ know how to use that?”

“Bec, I spent summers with Aubrey’s family during college. Of course I know how to use this.”

Beca tries to focus on the task at hand and the fact they were about to go against an actual ghost. Not on how incredibly hot Chloe looked at that very moment.

They approach their front door and push it open with no resistance. 

“This wouldn’t open before,” Chloe whispers as they step into their dark house. It was absolutely freezing.

“I think she was waiting for both of us.” Beca looks around the house and tries to see through the darkness. When they take a few steps into their foyer, the front door slams shut and they hear Chris start barking. 

Chloe holds the gun at the ready. 

“Wyatt,” Beca whispers through the house. “Get your ass out here before the crazy ghost girl kills us all.” She’s practically glued to Chloe’s side as they maneuver their way through their house.

The lights turn on and start to flicker before going out again and the temperature drops even lower that they can see their breath. 

“Chloe!” Beca suddenly screams when a figure flickers before them. The ghost of the girl stands in front of them holding that burning candle and starts laughing. The same laughter Beca had been hearing.

Chloe doesn’t waste time as she takes a shot at the girl and the apparition disappears in a black smoke. “Is she gone?” She slides the forestock and the bullet shell pops out.

“No, Cynthia Rose says rock salt only repels them, she’ll be back.” Beca looks around. “Where is that damn cat?”

“Wyatt!” Chloe calls herself. 

Finally, Wyatt comes out from under the couch and runs directly towards Chloe. “Oh my god, baby, come here.” She bends down to pick him up and hugs him close to her chest. 

“Okay, let’s get the fuck out of here.” Beca takes Wyatt from Chloe and grabs her arm to pull them to the front door. But when Beca tries to open it, it doesn’t budge. “Chlo, it’s not opening.” Her heart races as the room gets colder and the lights start to flicker again. “She’s coming back.”

Chloe stands in front of Beca and points the gun in front of them just as the ghost reappears. She shoots again but this time, the girl disappears and reappears before it hits her. “Fuck!” Chloe tries to reload the gun but it suddenly flies across the room.

“Run!” Beca yells and grabs her hand to run to another room. They end up back in Beca’s office where the painting was now glowing with the flames inside the house. 

“She trapped us,” Chloe says when she looks at the painting. 

The girl reappears in the room and starts walking towards them with a manic grin on her face.

“Chloe,” Beca cries and takes a hold of her hand while she holds Wyatt in the other. Chloe squeezes tight. “I’m not going to let anything happen to us.” Beca knows this might be the end for them but she takes little comfort knowing that she’ll be with Chloe in these last moments.

“I know, Bec.” 

They keep walking backwards as the girl advances towards them until their backs hit the wall by the window. She lets out another laugh before raising the candle to the curtain but just as the flame is about to touch it, the girl herself gets engulfed in flames and disappears into thin air. 

The lights come back on and the entire house gets warm again.

“What the fuck?” Beca’s phone rings suddenly and she scrambles to answer it.

“Is the ghost toast?” Cynthia Rose’s out of breath voice comes through.

Beca lets out a laugh. “Fuck, Cynthia Rose, thank you.” 

“You bitches owe me.” 

She hangs up the phone and both Chloe and her collapse on the floor. Wyatt runs out of the room looking very pissed. “You’re welcome!” Beca yells after him.

“Come here,” Chloe says, tiredly. She doesn’t wait for Beca and pulls her into a kiss that takes Beca’s breath away. “I am so sorry I doubted you.”

Beca shrugs and kisses her again. “Just promise me we’ll never go to another charity auction again.”

“Deal.”

Beca looks at the painting that now looks dull and lifeless and gets up to rip it off the wall. “Bye, bitch.” She goes to turn on the fireplace in the office and tosses the painting in it. She watches as the flames engulf it and incinerates it into ashes. 

“That was some dramatic irony right there,” Chloe says with a laugh. 

Beca couldn’t agree more.

\---

“So I did some additional research,” Beca says as she types on her laptop in bed. Chloe crawls under the covers next to her as Chris and Wyatt cuddle by the foot of the bed. It was going to be one big family slumber party tonight.

“On what?” Chloe asks looking at the screen and reads. “Elizabeth Franklin?”

“Yeah, that was the girl,” Beca explains. “So apparently, the family sent her to a boarding school one year but she only lasted one semester when the school ‘mysteriously’ burned down killing more than half the students. They blamed it on faulty wiring later.”

“So she’s always been a sociopath?” Chloe says, grimacing. 

“Yeah, who would suspect a sweet innocent girl starting all these fires? It was easier to blame the dad.” Beca shuts her laptop and puts it on the side table. “But it’s over now, thank god.” She goes under the covers just as Chloe snuggles against her side.

“Did you set the alarm?” Chloe mumbles against her neck.

Beca double checked it already. “Yes, baby, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

That night, Beca dreams of Chloe’s laughter.


End file.
